"Sir?"
Perry opened his eyes. He saw bright sunlight… partially blocked out by a very large robot man.
It was Norm.
"Sir, I was very worried." Norm said loudly. "I accidentally destroyed the bedroom in my concern. Are you okay, sir?"
Perry looked around, trying to figure out where he was.
Right. Danville Park.
He was resting partly on the bench, partly on Doofenshmirtz's leg, with Doofenshmirtz's lab coat wrapped snugly around him. Doofenshmirtz was asleep sitting up. He didn't look comfortable.
"Sir, I am beginning to worry again." Norm said.
Doofenshmirtz sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Ow. My neck. What was I…"
Perry pushed himself up and pulled the lab coat off. He handed it back to Doofenshmirtz.
"Thank you, Perry the platypus." Doofenshmirtz put it back on. "You know… that was kind of nice. We should look at the stars again sometime. You're a fun friend."
Perry choked on his own saliva. He stared at Doofenshmirtz with wide eyes.
Doofenshmirtz looked embarrassed. "Uh… did I say that? I mean… no, I said… there's a fun trend. I don't know what I said. Whatever. Okay. See you next scheme. Norm, you'd better have not destroyed anything while I was gone." Doofenshmirtz got up and started to walk towards his building.
"But sir, I was deeply concerned for your welfare!" Norm said.
Friend.
Doofenshmirtz had never called him that before. And yet for some reason, Perry wasn't too confused to hear it.
It was as though they had always been friends… but neither one of them dared admit it.
But how was that possible? How could you hate someone and like them at the same time?
Perry's head hurt. He got up from the bench and headed home.
"Don't mess around." Perry warned the boys as they got into the backseat of the car. "This is Carl's car. I'm just borrowing it."
"Thanks for picking us up, Perry." Phineas put his seatbelt on.
"I decree we pick up some junk food, drive around a little, and then head home."
"Yeah!" Phineas pumped his fist. "For the best night ever!"
"He says that about every night." Ferb said.
"But we do have good ones, don't we, Ferb?"
Ferb nodded.
"Where's the best place to get junk food?" Perry asked.
"Mr. Slushie Burger." Ferb said.
"We should have real dinner when we get home, though." Phineas said.
"I forgot you two were health food nuts. Would you rather just get some ice cream or something?"
"We're not health food nuts." Phineas said. "We just like healthy snacks sometimes."
"We eat a good variety of things." Ferb said, emphasizing the word things.
"Oh, Ferb." Phineas said.
"We'll just have a fun night at home, then." Perry said. "I don't like going out much anyways."
"What's the celebration all of a sudden?" Phineas asked.
"Did Kendrine Adems explode into firey flames?" Ferb asked.
"Close. She got a job. Now she can't bug me anymore. She's a comedian."
"Didn't see that coming." Phineas said.
"Me neither. For some reason people like listening to Billy Ghee. As far as I'm concerned, they can knock themselves out. So long as it gets Kendrine off my back. Which it did."
"Then we definitely should celebrate!" Phineas said. "Let's stay up all night!"
"And drink chocolate milk!" Ferb said.
"Bro, you're like addicted to chocolate milk." Phineas said. "I was raised on normal milk, and I don't drink it as much as you do chocolate."
"I think my blood is 76% chocolate milk." Ferb said.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Perry said.
"That smells so good, Perry." Phineas said, peering into the pot Perry was stirring.
"Don't burn yourself." Perry said, pushing him back. "But thanks. Real Italian pasta. Put a little salt into the water before putting the pasta in."
"Where'd you learn to make that?"
"The internet." Perry said. "Just kidding. My cousin Pietro is from Italy and he's always sending me recipes and cooking hints."
"So cool." Phineas said.
"If you guys like, tomorrow we can make hot chocolate the way this new agent Juan makes it. With cinnamon."
"It must be Juan in a million." Ferb said.
"Hey, I used that joke." Perry said.
Ferb shrugged. "You guys want me to make the sauce?"
"NO, Ferb." Phineas said. "Remember what happened the last time you made the sauce? Isabella nearly poked Buford's eye out trying to get him to give her the last bit of his portion. And then Buford tried to stick her and Baljeet into the washing machine to get their portions."
"I'll put less of the secret ingredient then." Ferb said. "It'll still be good, but not so good that you guys will want to maim each other to get more."
"I'm kind of afraid to taste it." Perry said.
"It's SOOOOOOO good, Perry." Phineas said. "Ferb is a god with sauce."
"Don't put any watermelons in it this time." Perry warned.
Perry rinsed out a mug and hand-dried it with a towel. He placed it inside the dishwasher and started on the next one.
Both boys had passed out on the sofa halfway through their movie. Perry had watched it until the end, and then went into the kitchen to clean.
Finding he was running out of dishes to rinse, Perry began hand-washing the leftover ones. He was scrubbing the sauce from a plate when Phineas entered the room.
"Perry?"
"Hey, Phin. You guys fell asleep. You want me to start the movie over?"
"Uh-huh." Phineas rubbed his eyes. "You don't have to wash those, Perry. You can just stick them in the dishwasher. Ferb and I will get our dishes."
"It's okay. I like doing this."
"You like washing dishes?"
"Cleaning calms me." Perry put the plate on the drying rack.
"Huh?"
"If I feel a little sad, I start cleaning. It gives me something to concentrate on other than my thoughts. Everything has its place to go. It's very soothing, somehow. Just clean everything off and put it in its proper place."
"You sound like one of those Disney princesses." Phineas said sleepily. He sat down on the counter. "What was the name of that one that kept cleaning with all the animals?"
"Water Blue or something." Perry said. "From what I remember, she just barged in on these seven guys and told them they lived in a pigsty and started cleaning stuff without asking. And then she ate an apple and got food poisoning."
"That doesn't sound like the story I remember."
"Maybe your memory's funky. You're tired."
"Why are you sad?"
Perry sighed. "Just… stuff. A lot of memories. A lot of things I wish I could fix, and I can't."
"Everything's fixable." Phineas said. "Nothing's impossible."
"For you, maybe." Perry said. "But for me… I can't fix everything, Phin. I don't have that mindset or that power."
He looked into Phineas's concerned blue eyes.
"Don't end up like me, Phin. I want you to keep being your same optimistic self. Keep fixing everything."
"I get sad sometimes too, Perry." Phineas said. "You know what I do?"
"What?"
"I think of all the people I love… and then I picture their faces… and then I think about what they would say to help me feel better. And also giraffes."
"You're overly tired. Go back to the couch."
"Giraffes are happy things." Phineas said stubbornly. "I'm not gonna tell you to not be sad, Perry. People used to tell me that all the time when I was little, and it was so annoying. Ferb didn't ever do that. He just let me be sad and he listened to what I had to say. And it made me feel so much better. And now I never feel sad… mostly. So… if you ever need someone to listen… Ferb and I are here."
Perry smiled a little. "Thanks, Phinny. Wake Ferb up so we can watch the movie over. I'll make some popcorn."
Phineas bounded into the living room.
"Wake him up calm-"
"FERRRRRBBBBB! WAKE UP!"
"-ly."
"Whichever one breaks the shell first is the oldest." Orville said. "Or at least that's what we were told. I'm not sure how twin platypuses work."
"I think that's it." Perry said. "I remember being really annoyed with my older twin brother for breaking the egg open. It was all nice and dark and warm, and he ruined it."
Peter poked his head through the door. "We're going to have an O.W.C.A meeting."
"Can't make it." Perry said.
The egg in the incubator cracked slightly.
"Why not?" Peter asked.
"In case you haven't noticed, our egg is hatching." Prince said.
"Oh." Peter said, seemingly uninterested. He left the room.
A few moments later, the room was filled with animal agents, all crowding around the incubator.
"Don't you guys have other things to do?" Perry asked.
"No." Billy the beaver said.
"Are baby chicks hatching?" A voice asked in the back.
"Whose baby is being born?" Another one asked.
"The people you're squishing up against the incubator." Perry snapped. "Seriously, give us some room."
The animal agents backed up a little. Perry turned his attention back to the egg.
A loud crack sounded, and a tiny bill poked through the shell. It pecked the shell again, and the egg broke open.
Out padded a little baby platypus, followed by another one that looked similar. They both looked around curiously.
"Well, neither of them appear to be evil." Perry said.
"They're wonderful." Prince said happily.
"A male and a female." Orville said. "You know what, I really can't tell. Platypuses all look the same."
"The older one's a female." Perry said.
"You're a better judge." Orville shrugged.
"They're so cute." Clara the chicken said.
"You should name one, how do you say, Juan II." Juan said.
"Uh, no." Perry said. He turned to Prince. "Names?"
"Shredder and Fury." Prince said.
Perry cringed. "Okay. Let me rephrase that question. BETTER names?"
"You could name one after my father." Peter said. "Pascal the panda."
"Pascal…" Prince said thoughtfully. "Kind of interesting. Ordinary, but interesting."
"I like it." Perry said.
"Fine. Boy's Pascal and the girl's Pandora." Prince said.
"My father would be honored, but he can't be because he's dead." Peter said.
"Don't start that again." Pinky said.
Brandon the bulldog pushed the agents away, bellowing through a megaphone. "Okay, move along, folks. Nothing to see here."
"Um, except adorable platypus babies." Peter said.
"They're here." Perry said fondly, putting his finger on the glass of the incubator.
Pascal waddled over and attempted to bite it.
"Yes." Prince said. "They're here."
